Go All the Way.

Today's ride was for a short distance only, downtown to Pints&union, then walking the bikes up the city side of the rail embankment to reach the amphitheater. We rode down to Loop Island and returned on city streets.

They're baby steps, but it's been eight years, after all. The instincts remain, pleasingly so. The self-obsessed idiocy of most drivers bothers me when I'm sitting at home in a chair thinking about it; once outside and on the street, far less than I imagined.

It isn't that they're any better. It's about my game plan, feeling I have a measure of control in spite of it all, along with fairly sound fundamentals. I also never go for a ride without a mirror, something I wouldn't do in a car, either.

Seeing posts like this one sets me to salivating. It's 77 miles in all, easily broken into a leisurely three-day ride, with ample time for sightseeing along the way. Troisvierges is only 50-odd km from Luxembourg City -- but even more enticingly, a mere 15 miles from Achouffe (near Houffalize), home of the Chouffe gnomes.

I might be daydreaming quite a lot in the months to come.

Vennbahn: How a historic German train line became a popular cycling path, by Tamsin Paternoster (The Local DE)

Today the Vennbahn bike path is one of the longest cycle trails of its kind, running along disused railway tracks in Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.

The path offers more than 125km of landscapes that stretch through Europe and encompasses three countries, as well as a distinctive history. The Local unpicks the story of the Vennbahn.

The Vennbahn wove through three countries, starting in the western German city of Aachen before making its way through Belgian territory and ending in Troisvierges, a small town in northern Luxembourg.

Along the way, the path winds itself in and out of Germany and Belgium, in territory which once wholly belonged to Germany before the borders were redefined ...

Luxembourg institutes free public transit. I'm sure the USA would outlaw it.

Granted, Luxembourg is a small country, roughly 1,000 square miles (20% smaller than Rhode Island) with 600,000 inhabitants. Outside of Luxembourg City it's mostly rural, hilly and forested; the Battle of the Bulge occurred here in part.

But it ain't the meat; it's the policy.

Luxembourg is following dozens of cities in making public transit free, by Lila MacLellan (Quartz)

Luxembourg just became the first country in the world to make its entire public transit system free to all.

As of today (March 1), all trams, trains, and buses will cost not a single euro to ride anywhere in the small nation, a steep discount compared to the 440 euros ($485) price tag for an annual pass until now.

Although Luxembourg, home to fewer than a million people, is the first country to institute such a policy, it’s not a new idea. Some 97 cities around the world have introduced free public transit, according to the authors of Free Public Transit: And Why We Don’t Pay to Ride Elevators (Black Rose Books, 2019)

Wait -- what's that book again? This might be the next book JT and I read together.

Free Public Transit: And Why We Don’t Pay to Ride Elevators

Just like we don't pay to use elevators, this book argues that we shouldn't pay to ride public transit. In an age of increasing inequalities and ecological crisis, movements advocating free public transit push us to rethink the status quo and consider urban transit as a fundamental human right. Editors Jason Prince and Judith Dellheim have collected a panorama of case studies from around the world: the United States, Canada, Estonia, Greece, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, China, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and more. These movements are spread across the world, and they aim to achieve two main outcomes—ecological good and fair wealth distribution. Free public transit—coupled with increased capacity and improving service of public transit—might well be the only viable strategy to eliminating car usage and achieving greenhouse gas targets in industrialized cities within a reasonable time frame. Movements for free mass transit also aim to see public transit treated as a public good, like water and garbage service, that should be paid for out of general tax revenues or a fairer regional tax strategy. This book covers the rapidly changing transport options in cities today, including bike and car share options, Uber and Lyft, and the imminent arrival of driver-less vehicles. The first English-language book ever written on the subject, Free Public Transit is a ground breaking book for those concerned about the future of our cities and an essential resource for those who make, or try to change, urban planning and transport policies.